SkekOk
SkekOk was the Skeksis' Scroll Keeper, and counterpart to urAc the Scribe. Personality and traits SkekOk was the Skeksis' court historian and curator of the Castle library, which he boasted was "endless" with tomes dating back a thousand trine. He was the least honest of all the Skeksis, and habitually changed allegiance, re-writing historical accounts to gratify his shifting allies to the point that the truth was soon lost.Froud, B. & Llewellyn, J. J., (2003) The World of the Dark Crystal. Pavilion Books. He was also prone to vanity, being proud of his thinning white hair while most of his comrades had gone bald,Lee, J. M. (2019), Heroes of the Resistance, Penguin Young Readers Licences, ISBN 978-0.593-09539-3 and liked luxuriating in aromatic baths. He was frequently seen vacantly mumbling to himself and had the habit of turning up late to all meetings and falling asleep during them.Smith, A. C. H., & Odell, D. (1982). The Dark Crystal. Holt, Rinehart and Winston . Typical of a Skeksis, he considered the Gelfling to be an inferior species, though he differed in considering his race's efforts to "civilize" them to be a genuinely noble endeavor rather than a cynical ploy,Wallace, D. (2019), The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance - Inside the Epic Return to Thra, Titan Books, p. 101, ISBN 978-1-78909-387-2. and expressed admiration for Gelfling architecture, in particular that of Ha'rar, claiming it had a "malodorous charm". He was also quick to recognize and encourage Gelfling who could read and write, sometimes going his way to vouch for such individuals. He was, nevertheless, not above manipulating them, feigning to be hurt when a farmer refused to give her family heirloom as a tithe, only to give it to Mayrin, showing that he never really cared for it. After the dissolution of the Alliance of the Crystal, he dropped all pretenses and showed himself to be perfectly content with being viewed as a monster by the Gelfling, even mocking his former admirer Brea for not having realized the Skeksis' true nature earlier. Biography As skekTek was developing the means of using the Dark Crystal to extract life from others for their essence, skekOk left with skekLach the Collector to Ha'rar for the yearly tithing ceremony. On the way, skekOk invited Brea to accompany them on their carriage upon realizing she was a princess. Despite his condescending tone, skekOk was genuinely impressed with Brea's literacy and shared his love of books with her, boasting that his library was "endless". Once at All-Maudra Mayrin's court, skekOk assured Brea that he would explain her tardiness to her mother while awkwardly accepting her hug. SkekOk's cruelty eventually showed through when he pretended to be deeply saddened by a poor farmer's refusal to give up an heirloom to compensate for the lack of crops caused by the Darkening, manipulating the other Gelflings into pressuring him into surrendering the item. He later gave the heirloom to Mayrin for her services. SkekOk eventually returned to the castle, disappointed with the tributes. When Ordon requested mercy for his son Rian, skekOk quickly rejected the idea, saying "no mercy for murderers". He then participated in the punishment ritual for skekTek. Later luxuriating at the Castle of the Crystal, skekOk was shocked to see Aughra returned. When Aughra's asked why her heart ached and why Thra "cries out in pain", skekOk insinuated that she was simply old, prompting Aughra to insult him for his paunch. At the welcome banquet for skekEkt, skekOk joined in the demand for more essence, having been away in Ha'rar when the first batch was made. After drinking Gelfling essence, skekOk noticed his eye sight was clear again and told the other Skeksis that he had forgotten how ugly he found them. When skekMal returned with Brea, skekOk locked her in the Chamber of Life, gloating over her failure to realize he was a monster sooner when she denounced him as such. When skekMal became injured, skekOk urged that they recall other Skeksis to the castle for strength in numbers, naming skekLi specifically. SkekOk also reported the fires rising into the air as a result of the Dual Glaive being reformed, realizing the Gelfling were uniting against them and entering the Crystal Chamber to hear Rian's speech." Taking part in the Second Battle of Stone-in-the-Wood with the majority of the Skeksis, skekOk used the additional armor weapons built by skekTek to kill Maudra Fara. Fara's fizzgig, Baffi, avenged his owner by biting skekOk's beak and shoulder. After the Skeksis retreated back to the castle, skekOk mourned skekLach's death with skekEkt comforting him. Years later, during the Third Great Conjunction, skekOk was absorbed by urAc as they returned to their original form, OkAc. He was revived a century later alongside his seven other comrades and urRu counterparts after the Fireling Thurma took a shard from the Crystal in a misguided quest to restore her homeland's dying Mother Sun. He briefly fought against the Crystal Guards, but was interrupted by Jen, who took control of the Garthim and had the Skeksis incarcerated.Spurrier, S., The Power of the Dark Crystal, #3, Archaia, USA, May 2017 After was eventually released alongside his comrades by the Crystalline Eminence.Spurrier, S. & Kennedy Johnson, P., The Power of the Dark Crystal, #8, Archaia, USA, October 2017 When Thurma returned with the Shard upon realizing the error of her ways, skekOk was once again merged with his urRu other after she healed the Crystal.Spurrier, S. & Kennedy Johnson, P., The Power of the Dark Crystal, #12, Archaia, USA, March 2018 Other appearances In the continuity established by Legends of the Dark Crystal, during skekSil the Chamberlain's rivalry against skekLach the Collector, skekOk overheard one of Chamberlain's plots, but did not intervene.Kessel, B. R. & Arnhold, H. (2010) Legends of the Dark Crystal Volume 2: Trial by Fire. TokyoPop. Personal relationships SkekLach SkekOk seemed to have formed a genuine friendship with skekLach the Collector, giving her advice on how best to treat her pustules and mourning her in the aftermath of the Second Battle of Stone-in-the-Wood, claiming that she had never hurt anyone undeserving. He was, nevertheless, irritated by skekLach's idealization of her lost looks, and bluntly told her that she had never been beautiful. SkekEkt In the absence of skekLach, he was frequently seen in the company of skekEkt, who was his closest political ally and with whom he would gossip about recent developments. The Ornamentalist joined skekOk in his grief over skekLach's death and the two later joined forces to support skekSil in his bid to inherit skekSo's throne.Henson, J. & Oz, F. (dir.); Henson, J., Kurtz, G. & Lazer, D. (prod.); Henson, J. & Odell, D. (writ.) (December 17, 1982). The Dark Crystal (Motion picture). New York City, NY: Jim Henson Productions. SkekSil Although skekSil considered skekOk a "vacant idiot who continually mumbled to himself", the Scroll Keeper was a political ally of the Chamberlain who, like him, was a master at dissimulation. He agreed with skekSil in most of his policies, nodding in approval at the Chamberlain's proposal to drain only as many Gelflings as needed to survive instead of draining them all as the rest of the Skeksis wanted. After skekSo's death, skekOk supported skekSil in his bid to become the new emperor, though his loyalty was limited, as he switched from encouraging the Chamberlain to praising skekUng several times during the Trial by Stone and abandoned his former ally after his defeat, though he did not take part in stripping him of his robes.Henson, J. & Oz, F. (dir.); Henson, J., Kurtz, G. & Lazer, D. (prod.); Henson, J. & Odell, D. (writ.) (December 17, 1982). [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083791/ The Dark Crystal] (Motion picture). New York City, NY: Jim Henson Productions. Behind the scenes The character's pre-production notes described him as a "professor, librarian, historian, solicitor" who used the written word for power rather than truth. His robes were to incorporate pleated fabric resembling pages, with bookmarks jutting out. He was originally supposed to be able to retract his head into his collar, taking on a pedantic, academic tone when conversing normally, only to babble and cackle when retreating into the collar. The notes further elaborated:Invader Zim (2010-06-08). "The Skeksis (one post from a messageboard thread)". Planet Irk. Retrieved 2019-09-28. In The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, the Scroll Keeper was intended to be voiced by a professional voice actor. However, Will Matthews liked Neil Sterenberg's performance so much that he decided not to overdub it.E. Douglas, INTERVIEW: THE DARK CRYSTAL: THE AGE OF RESISTANCE writers on creation myths, character deaths, and more, Comicsbeat.com, August 28 2019 According to Javier Grillo-Marxuach, the character represents "learning to the exclusion of empathy".Wallace, D. (2019), The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance - Inside the Epic Return to Thra, Titan Books, p. 76, ISBN 978-1-78909-387-2. Gallery Power Ceremony - skekOk.png SkekOk.jpg SkekOk UrAc.jpg|SkekOk with his urRu counterpart, urAc the Scribe SkekOk Instagram.jpg SkekOk the Scroll Keeper.jpg Skeksis gathered.jpg|SkekOk, skekAyuk, skekTek, skekLach, and skekSo skekSo, skekTek, skekSil, & skekOk.jpg|skekSo, skekTek, skekSil, & skekOk Skeksis feast together.jpg|SkekOk, SkekEkt, SkekVar, SkekZok, SkekAyuk, & SkekLach References External Links * * }} Category:Characters Category:The Dark Crystal characters Category:Males Category:Villains Category:The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance characters Category:The Power of the Dark Crystal characters